The Niagara News is the community newspaper of Niagara College located in Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is created and produced by the students of the Niagara College Journalism program.

Niagara Suicide Awareness Walk raises $22,600

By LAURA BARTONStaff WriterWorld Suicide Prevention Day, and events such as Distress Centre Niagara’s Annual Suicide Awareness Walk during September, challenge the taboo of talking about suicide.Stacy Terry, executive director of Distress Centre Niagara, says awareness is the first step towards breaking the stigma surrounding suicide, but she also acknowledges the bittersweet reality of an event like the awareness walk growing in numbers of participants every year.“It comes at a cost of great emotion and great sadness for everyone,” Terry says in her opening address to the crowd of walkers.Held in St. Catharines at the Grantham Lions Club on Sept. 13, the walk raised roughly $22,600 for the organization’s volunteer training and 24-hour mental health phone services. Over 200 participants were registered for the walk’s 10th year, many of whom showed up despite the less than favourable weather.The gravity of the day was most noticeable when guest speaker Niagara Regional Police Officer Duncan MacIsaac shared his story of suicidal ideation with the crowd, emotionally describing it as a “lonely, solitary place.”He says awareness events like the walk are making it easier for people to be more honest about suicide.World Suicide Prevention Day, a United Nations recognized observance every Sept. 10, also aims to change the way people think about suicide. Although it is only one day a year, mindyourmind Youth Projects and Volunteer Co-ordinator Heather Miko-Kelly says even one day of conversation makes a difference.“Every year, more and more people are hearing about these issues. If these ‘days’ help one person to reach out and get help, then that is successful.”mindyourmind is a London-based non-profit mental health program that works to bring youth, young adults, and professionals to develop the resources needed for issues like suicide.Existing awareness has already brought about a change to the language used. While once “committed suicide” was used, it is more appropriate to say “died by suicide.”Denise Waligora, training and delivery specialist for Mental Health First Aid, a program with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, points out the negative connotations of using the term “committed” when talking about suicide, saying it is associated with crime or sinfulness.“We don’t say somebody committed a heart attack. We say somebody died by it. That is how a person has died is they have died by suicide,” she elaborates. She emphasises people need to be respectful to not only those who have died by suicide, but also to the survivors.In addition to awareness efforts, Ontario is supporting youth and their families through its Youth Suicide Prevention Plan by committing $1.9 million to 33 communities across the province. Parents, teachers, mental health workers and other authority figures trusted by youth will receive training and resources to better help youth in crisis in the long term.Long-term plans for suicide prevention like these are important because of the stigma that Miko-Kelly says bars most people from even seeking help.“If, as a society, we talked more about suicide and suicide prevention, more people would get the help they need, when they need it.”